"World of Warcraft" players have long sought a non-healer class that can assist allies from afar, a mix of support and DPS. According to a recent data analysis of the game's upcoming patch 10.1 (opens in new tab), this longing appears to be nearly over.

Certainly, the rationale for a specialized shooting support class is thin, but it would fit in with the recent direction of MMOs; the entire Dragonflight expansion was touted as a return to the game's high fantasy roots, and Blizzard continues to add features that players have long wanted (in a new tab open in new tab) and continues to add them.

The Dragonflight expansion's new race and class, the Draktil Evoker, has only two specializations: healer and DPS, while most classes in WoW have three: the Paladin, the DPS, and the DPS. For example, a Paladin can be a healer, a DPS, and a tank. While it's not unheard of to have only two specializations (poor Demon Hunter), the Draktil has a strong narrative reason to have a third.

Patch 10.1 will delve into the origins of the Dracthyr, a mixed race of dragons and humans created by one of the original Warcraft villains, Deathwing (aka Neltharion), in the 2010 Cataclysm expansion. You may remember them as the dragons that burned Azeroth to the ground. Dracthyr has the unique ability to blend the powers of the various dragon flights in WoW lore (conveniently color-coded), but is conspicuously lacking the special ability to revolve around Deathwing's Black Dragon Flight.

Yesterday, Wowhead (opens in new tab) data-mined 10.1 quests. According to the text of the ongoing quest, Dracthyr's player displays a pop-up window: "I remembered a new specialization." WoW does not use the word "specialization" anywhere else, so unless this is a mistake, this refers to Evokers' new role in It must refer to the new role of Evokers.

At the end of the quest, there is a boss fight, which states that you can "boost/heal" your allies; Dracthyr is currently unable to buff or boost allies, even if they are specialized in healing." The "boost/heal" could be a mechanism unique to this particular quest, or it could just be a typo. However, if the "Specialization remembered" text pop-up is true, it could be a quest introducing a new Specialization.

In a recent interview with Associate Game Director Morgan Day (opens in new tab), WoW streamer Towelliee asked about the possibility of a tank specialization for Evokers." We can't really talk about it because we've never really added specs," Day said." Tanks were discussed in the early days when Evokers was the twinkle in our eyes."

Day's response is vague enough to not rule out the possibility of a range support class. This is a role that did not exist in WoW and is often sought after in the form of a bard class (open in new tab), such as in Final Fantasy 14 (open in new tab). The idea is to be able to apply useful buffs to your allies that feed back into your DPS rotation. This theoretical class/specialization probably won't top the damage meter, but it could be useful in tough endgame content. Because of its ancillary role, it is a specialization that makes sense to add after launch.

This is all the evidence we have so far. These quests were data-mined from patch 10.1, which also includes a raid on Dracthyr. The text of this quest may be a placeholder for a specialization that will not be ready for the patch's late spring release; there is no clear indication of it in WoW's 2023 roadmap (opens in new tab) either. My guess is that if we don't see it in 10.1, it will appear in patch 10.2 near the end of the year or in early 2024.

Morgan Day was right: in its nearly 19-year history, WoW has never added an entirely new specialty to the class (the druid's fourth specification (open in new tab) barely counts). But WoW continues to make unprecedented moves. So much so that it has players debating what other long-sought-after feature (open in new tab) will be next. A shooting support class would be a very welcome surprise.